Notice that
this paragraph is bookended by Paul’s trust in the Lord: to send Timothy and to
come himself to the Philippians. Timothy
accompanied Paul on the second missionary journey when the church was
established. Paul wanted to send Timothy
to the Philippians, and it appears that’s what they had requested by sending
Epaphroditus as somewhat of a trade-off.
Paul wanted to send Timothy so that he could report back the state of
the church.

Look at the
descriptions of Timothy: like-minded; sincerely caring; proven character; and
serves in the Gospel. This is in
contrast with others who are described as those who seek their own. Among Paul’s helpers, Timothy was outstanding
and most valued. Verse 21 is a general
rule, yet Timothy was an exception.

Sons learned
the trade of their fathers ~ Timothy learned the work of Paul, the Gospel
ministry. Let’s talk about mentorship
for a few minutes. (SEE Titus 2:1-8; 2 Tim 2:1-2; Matt 5:19)

Epaphroditus’ Work (25-30)

Epaphroditus
was from Philippi and was commissioned by the church as a messenger/servant. Roman prison officials offered little-to-no
provisions so the Philippians probably sent things like money, clothes, and
food by Epaphroditus for Paul. He was to
deliver the gifts to Paul and offer his service in place of the church. That service almost cost him his life. His name is only mentioned in Philippians and
there is nowhere in the letter that says this, but I think he may have been a
deacon of the Philippian church.

Epaphroditus
wanted to go back to Philippi because he was distressed that they had heard he
was sick. Paul also wanted to send
Epaphroditus back and there are several possibilities for why: he wanted to
keep Timothy, wanted Epaphroditus to deliver the letter and give an update on
Paul’s situation, and he had been sick so Paul wanted him to get back home
safely. Paul and Epaphroditus could ease
their anxieties if he made it back and had a joyous reunion with the church. A big part of this letter is about
Epaphroditus returning to them—how would he be received?

There is
speculation that the Philippians were passing rumors about Epaphroditus’ illness
which isn’t too far-fetched because churches do that type of thing all the
time. There is a good chance that he got
sick from the traveling—crossing lands, boats, prison.

Epaphroditus
is the type of Christian to be esteemed and emulated. Verse 30 “not regarding his life” exemplifies
Paul’s teaching (SEE 2:1-4, 8).

Conclusion and Christian Application

(1) Why these two men and why now? Both
exemplify Paul’s teaching.

(2)Christians (esp. servant leaders) who seek the well-being of
others should be respected.

(3) This is what the Christian life is
all about—Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus were looking out not only for their
own interests, but also for the interests of the Philippians. That is why these
verses are added and why they are added in this exact place in the letter.

If I may, I
would like to continue with the theme from last week’s devotional from Matthew
5:3 concerning spiritual poverty. By the
way, how are you doing with that idea?
Have you filed for spiritual bankruptcy?
A Christian is a man or woman who has come to understand and agree that
all of our righteousness is like filthy rags before God (Isa 64:6). God is light and in Him is no darkness at all
(1 Jn 1:5). God is absolutely perfect in
His character and activities. While the
world tells us that we are “mostly good” and only do bad things sometimes, the
story of the Bible is that we are mostly bad and sometimes we do good (apart
from Christ’s work in us).

So, yes,
atheists and religious folks are in the same situation when it comes to their efforts
before God. Our human efforts will never
be good enough. Our good will never
outweigh our bad. Remember, God is light
and in Him is no darkness at all.
Theoretically, someone may keep the whole law, yet stumble in one point,
and they are then considered a “lawbreaker” (Jas 2:10). God is holy and righteous. To sin, even in the smallest of ways, is to
sin against the perfect Creator God.
And, let’s face it, who among us can honestly claim that they have only
sinned in the slightest of ways? It was
the Lord Jesus who said, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may
speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment” (Matt 12:36). Every word we have mumbled under our breath,
every thought that has passed through our mind, and every one of our activities
will be audited on Judgment Day.
Nobody’s scales will tilt toward the good—Nobody’s.

Therefore,
the first step into the Christian experience is coming to a thorough
understanding and confessing our spiritual poverty. We must file spiritual bankruptcy before
God. Only then can we step into the
wonders of the kingdom. Hey, ponder this
some more this week, and next week, let’s talk about the glories of the second
part of the first beatitude (“for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”).

The point
that is driving last week’s passage and our passage today is the one stated in
Phil 1:27, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Verse eight, which we saw last week, is a key
verse for this passage (Silva, 117). The
idea of humility points back to the preceding section, and the idea of
obedience leads to the following passage.
The word, “Therefore,” then, compels us to take the Christ hymn as our
example. We are to take Christ’s
humility and obedience as our example for how to live. Also, the commands of this passage are to be
obeyed on the basis of Christ’s lordship which was just referenced and
described at the end of the hymn.

The text
does not say:

1) Work to acquire your salvation

2) You may have your salvation, but
now keeping it depends on you

3) You have
no responsibility in your salvation because it is only God who works

There are
various interpretations:

1) Paul is concerned with the
well-being of the community (J.H. Michael)

4) Present
out-working of their eschatological salvation within the community (Fee)

I’ll take a
stab at it:

I have
always viewed this phrase to mean that we need to work out what our salvation
means. It is something that we need to
do in our minds and then practice it in our everyday lives. I think that I am still “working it out.” No matter how mature we get, we must still
continue to work it out in our minds and in our lives (SEE Jn 6:27-29; Matt
11:29; Phil 3:13-14). It’s of the mind—it
is our attitude that reflects in our obedience (remember, “let this mind”).

We have an
incentive to push on – God is working in us. So, press on with fear and
trembling. If we are going to work out
our salvation—grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, continually search Him
out as our utmost treasure—it should be done with fear and trembling, which
points us back to vv9-11. This is not a
casual thing; it’s an awesome thing. God
has given us salvation, we can only have a sense of holy awe and wonder (SEE
Rom 13:11-14).

Blamelessness (14-16)

Faith in
Christ is ultimately demonstrated in obedience to Christ—not in the sense of
following a list of rules but willingly coming totally under His lordship
because you trust Him—being completely devoted to Him. So, the question is, how are they going to
corporately respond to the salvation God has given them? In other words, what are some practical ways
of working this out? He gives us four
(two in 14-16 and two in 17-18):

[1] Do “all things” without
complaining/murmuring or disputing/arguing (self-denying contentment). Paul must have grumbling Israel in mind as
they came out of Egypt: (1) Backed
against the Red Sea with the Egyptian army in pursuit the people said [Exod
14:11-12], “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die
in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt
with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is
this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may
serve the Egyptians’? For it would have
been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the
wilderness.” (2) When the people were thirsty and there was only a bitter spring
they said [Exod 15:24], “And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What
shall we drink?’” (3) When the people grew hungry, instead of trusting the Lord to
provide, we are told [Exod 16:2-3], “Then the whole congregation of the
children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh,
that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by
the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this
wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (4)
And the list goes on: they complained about water another time and Moses struck
the rock to bring forth water; they complained about the bread from heaven so
God sent quail; they complained about Moses as mediator so God spoke to them
directly; they complained about God speaking to them and thought that they
would die; they complained on numerous occasions that they should return to
Egypt; and on and on.

To avoid
this kind of distrust of the Lord and awful infighting is to become blameless
and harmless; it is to become like Christ.
We live as children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation. And this generation is no
different than any other. This age is marked
by crookedness and perverseness. Yet, we
are children of God. We do not live in
this way. We are to be found without
fault, and when we are, we will shine as lights in the world. The world is crooked, but we are to be
straight. The world is perverse, but we
are to pursue holiness. Was Israel a
witness to the pagan nations around them?
Were they light in that darkness?
They were not. Do not follow them
in their rebellion. The people of God
are those who make peace.

[2] The second practical way of working
out their salvation was to give Paul, their
Christian leader, a reason to rejoice (strive to please workers). Paul was their father in the faith. He was their apostle. He had gone to them to share the Good News
and now asked in return that they would fulfill his joy and give him a reason
to rejoice. On the Last Day, the Day of
Christ, Paul wants the Philippians to be blameless. He wants them to hold fast to the word of
life. This will give Paul a reason to
rejoice, knowing that he had not worked in vain.

Sacrifice (17-18)

[3] Continue to sacrifice, as you have
before, and Paul’s sacrifice will be complementary. This echoes the OT sacrificial system (SEE
Num 28:7).

[4] Rejoice and be glad with me. The joy comes from our relationship with
Christ and with one another in Christ, as well as from the certainty of our
end. The suffering will be a direct
result of trying to bring others in on the joy.

Conclusion and Christian Application

You see,
this is what it means to follow a crucified Savior, a suffering Servant. He has taken up His cross in obedience to the
Father and out of love for us, and we, too, are to take up our crosses and
follow Him in obedience. We do not work
for our salvation as if we can earn it.
We work out our salvation, growing in our understanding of the grace and
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once
we begin to understand things in our minds, we put them into practice in our
lives and Christian community.

(1) We move forward with fear and
trembling, in awe of God’s grace in Christ.

(2) We do everything without complaining
and arguing. We pursue holiness.

(3) We hold fast the word of life knowing
that it is by grace that we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ and that is
not in any way our doing.

(4) We suffer but rejoice in it knowing
that Christ has suffered before us and has been exalted to the highest of
places. We rejoice knowing, also, that
our futures are secure in Him.

I am
studying the Sermon on the Mount this week from Matthew 5-7. This is the most famous sermon ever
delivered. The Lord gathered His
disciples together, went up a mountain, sat down, and opened His mouth to teach
them. Jesus’ healing ministry was important. All of the miracles were definitely
significant and validating. However, the
Gospels and all of the New Testament letters make clear that the ministry of
the word, preaching, is the chief aspect of Gospel ministry. Jesus was never content to only meet physical
needs. The Lord spoke to the hearts of
the people. He spoke to the spiritual
needs of the multitudes. They may have
been hungry, or hurting, or poor, but, more than that, they were in danger of
the wrath to come without the work of God in their lives. This life does not last forever. It is very brief. We need hope for the future, and we need to
know how to pass through the judgment by the grace of God. We also need to know how to live in this life
due to our future prospects. We need to
know how we can be light to our dark world.

The one
theme that stands out from the Sermon and runs throughout comes from the first
line that Jesus speaks after He opens His mouth: “Blessed are the poor in spirit. . . .”
The first step into the Christian experience . . . the first step toward
salvation is a realization and confession of our own spiritual poverty. The kind of person who knows his/her
spiritual bankruptcy is the kind of person who is “blessed” of God, that is,
satisfied in and approved by God. This
is the starting point for the new birth.
We have to know God’s holiness and our sinfulness.

Have you
come to this realization? Have you
confessed this reality? If you have been
a Christian for several years, do you still understand this truth? More can certainly be said, but we will leave
it here for now.

In today’s
sermon, we are after one main point “unity through humility.” Our text today
exhorts us to be united by following the example of Christ. The passage
contains what is known as the “Carmen Christi,” or “The Christ Song.” Verses
6-11 are universally seen as poetic in nature and may have been an early
Christian hymn or confession about Christ Jesus. Before we look at that
passage, look back to the previous text which we looked at last week. In
1:27-2:4 the apostle exhorted the Philippians to be united. Now he is going to
tell them how to be united: “unity through humility.”

READ Scripture- This is the Word of God

Exhortation: Have the Mind of Christ (5)

The
mind that he is talking about is found vv3-4.

The
“you” (plural) refers to the church which should have the same mind (thought
process, frame of mind) as Christ.

The Example of Christ (6-8)

Now, to
prove his statement true (that Christ had the mind described in the previous
paragraph), Paul describes Christ’s actions in the incarnation. This is called
the “Kenosis,” that Christ “emptied” Himself (this comes from verse seven which
the NKJV translates “made Himself of no reputation”).

(6) It is difficult to pin down a
technical definition of what Paul meant by “being in the form of God,” but
there is no question that it must be equivalent to the phrase “to be equal with
God.” “Form of God” + “Form of slave”
(added humanity to divinity). So, as the Christmas hymn says, “veiled in flesh
the Godhead see, hail incarnate deity.”

“Consider”
can be compared to “esteem” in v3. It is the same root word (can be translated
esteem, regard, consider, think of, count). Esteeming others better than
yourself is not to say that they (in the natural sense) are better at you at
whatever given matter. To esteem someone better than yourself is to “count”
them better no matter the circumstances.

Christ did
not view equality with God something to be “seized” as though He did not
already have it, or as something to be “retained,” or grabbed tightly, or
clutched closely. When we look at others and think that we are better than them
at so many things yet we count them as better, we have the same mind as Christ.
He looked at His divinity and did not count it as something to eagerly hold.
Instead, He emptied Himself of it (made Himself of no reputation).

“Likeness of
men” tells us that He did not come as sinful flesh, but only in the likeness
thereof. He remained fully God while incarnate. The church has traditionally
understood, I think rightly, that Jesus was fully God and fully man. He was in
the form of God and came in the form of a slave. The “form” seems to mean
“status” in my humble opinion. To be in the status of God is to be in the
highest possible position. To be God is to be that than which “none greater can
be conceived.” In contrast, the lowest
position someone could be in is that of a slave. SEE John 13:3-4. So, Christ’s
Deity was veiled by human form and few could see past the veil.

John says
the disciples quickly realized Jesus’ divinity past the veil, “We have seen His
glory, the glory of the One and Only” (1:14). Hebrews teaches us that He had to
become like His brothers (human) in every way so that He might become a
merciful and faithful High priest to make atonement for the sins of the people.

(8) Not only did He empty Himself (of
His right to independently use His divine attributes), but He also humbled
Himself. Why is the word “obedient” used of His death? It shows His Sonship and
His slave form. “Obedient to death” = wages of sin is death, but Christ was
sinless. He did this for sinners—for you and for me. He was obedient to the
will of God the Father.

How humiliating
it is for God to become man! That is why Muslims find Christians to be
repulsive. They see us as blasphemous because we believe God became man and was
crucified. The Jews also find the cross to be a stumbling block and a rock of
offense. In fact, many people can not grasp the idea of God as the Suffering
Servant. Yet, the Scriptures are clear that Jesus was/is God and that He died
for the sins of many. The Philippians believed this fact and it was necessary
that Paul conclude the short narrative of Christ’s story. Though He suffered,
he was exalted. Why was it necessary? The Philippians were suffering and would
suffer.

(9) Christ was restored to His exalted
position. Moreover, he has been that much more glorified, that much more
exalted than ever before in that position He has been exalted “to the highest
possible degree.” He bears the name
which is above every name. There are basically two options for the “name.”
Either the name is Jesus or it is Lord. “Lord” would be the equivalent of
“Yahweh” (it is Hebraic tradition to substitute for the name of God). The
context points to “Jesus” in the very next phrase. So it seems clear that that
earthly name “Jesus” has now become the highest of all names (in heaven, on
earth, and under the earth). Yet, by looking at verse eleven we may be able to
add that the name Jesus is equivalent to Lord. (Will give refer at end).

(10) To bow one’s knee always refers to
a pledged reverence and submission to something or someone. And Paul declares
the full scope of the bowing, “of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and
of those under the earth.” One commentator says, “Those ‘of heaven’ refer to
all heavenly beings, angels and demons; those of earth refer to all those who
are living on earth at his [Second Coming], including those who are currently
causing suffering in Philippi; and those ‘under the earth’ probably refer to
‘the dead,’ who shall also be raised to acknowledge his lordship over all.”

(11) Not only will every creature bend
their knee, but “every tongue” will confess Jesus is Lord. The confession then will not be of conversion,
but of final acknowledgement (of Acts 2:36).

Isa 45:23:
“I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take
an oath.”

Conclusion and Christian Application

(1) The Christian experience is one of a
renewed mind. Greco-Roman culture despised humility. They thought that humility
demonstrated inferiority. Yet, Christians made it a high virtue (one of the
highest).

(2) Luke 9:23: “Then [Jesus] said to
them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Many
of you come to worship services on Sundays looking to fulfill some kind of “religious”
duty; some of you come because you have been guilted into coming (by your own
conscience or by someone in your family); and some of you come because you long
to be “spiritual.” Now, some of the
reasons for attending a worship time are not necessarily wrong or bad. Yet, what may be wrong in your life is that
you are disconnected from the church.
You may sit in the “church building,” hold down a pew, open your mouth
to sing, and close your eyes when we pray—all while never actually being
connected with the church. Here’s the
question: Are you involved in the life of the church?

We
are all called as Christians to be “plugged in” to the church. We are to be bound to our brothers and
sisters in Christ; accountable to and responsible for one another. We are to be united. In doing so, we reflect well the Lord Jesus
and His Gospel. Disunity is a great
enemy of the church. Many of the New
Testament letters were written to combat disharmony among the churches. Some of them were divided because of sin;
others because of false doctrine and false teachers; some (believe it or not)
over racial issues, and others because of personality clashes. But the apostles were never content to allow
congregations to splinter and divide.
Never. They were always battling,
warring against strife and division.

Now,
we have discussed that the Philippian church was a strong church, healthy,
vibrant, and spiritually vibrant one.
Why did the apostle need to write about this subject? I will tell you the reason and why we need to
discuss it here at the Rural Hall Church: Disunity is constantly a threat
against any and every Christian church.
Even during the seasons when the church is strong and healthy, we must
fight against strife and for unity.

READ Scripture- This is the Word of God

Gospel-Worthy Conduct (27-28)

The
very first phrase of verse 27 is profound.
There is no greater motivation for holy living than the point of this
phrase: “Let your conduct be worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” We do not follow rules and regulations simply
to be “religious.” We pursue godliness
because of the great gift that God has given us—His Son. We have all other blessings because of
Him. We do not pursue holy living to
earned these things—they are already ours.
We want to live lives that are worthy of the graciousness that we have
received.

Paul,
the apostle, is in prison. He hoped to
be released and go back to the churches, including Philippi, but whether he was
able to or not, he wanted to hear that the church was three things related to
unity:

#1
Stand Fast (We should have the same essence, thinking the same things)

In One Spirit

With One Mind/Soul

#2
Striving Together (Not to earn salvation, but to defend the way of salvation,
the true Gospel message. It is almost
too easy—believe and receive—too many people are afraid that they will not be
saved, so they work, work, work. We must
fight against the urge to try to earn salvation.)

For the Faith

Of the Gospel

#3
Not Terrified (You are going to have opponents in the Christian life)

By Adversaries

Them = Sign of Destruction

You = Sign of Salvation

From God

Gifts from God (29-30)

You
have been granted on behalf of Christ:

#1 To Believe in Him

#2 To Suffer for Him

The Philippians were
suffering like Paul (they were Christians)

We
have the opportunity to believe in Christ, that is, for salvation and every
other spiritual blessing. Yet, we also
have been given the opportunity to suffer for the sake of Christ. This is one of the greatest questions of our
day: What do we do with the issue of suffering?
God allows for adversaries. He
grants to His people the opportunity to suffer with, like, and for Christ. Our Savior and Lord was crucified. Paul was beaten, mocked, imprisoned, and
more. While some people believe that
suffering is a sign that God does not exist and even some Christians believe
that suffering is a sign that God is displeased with them, the truth of the
matter is that suffering is a sign that God approves of them. Suffering is an opportunity to be united with
Christ, to be a witness to the Good News of Christ, and to make a Christian
stronger in their faith. Suffering is a
gift of God.

Therefore (1-4)

#1 If
any Consolation/Encouragement in Christ

#2 If
any Comfort of Love

#3 If
any Fellowship of the Spirit

#4 If
any [Deep] Affection and Mercy (compassions)

àFulfill my Joy:

#1 Being like-minded (that you might
be of the same mind)

#2 Having the same love

#3 Being of one accord (united in soul/same
soul/same essence?)

#4 Being of one mind (same thinking)

àLet nothing be done through
selfish ambition or conceit

#5 In lowliness of mind, let each
esteem others better than himself

#6 Let each look out not only
for his own interest, but for others

The
language introduced in v27 of “one spirit/one soul” now becomes an entire
paragraph. It appears to have a poetic
structure; there is a rhythmic consistency, short clauses, and repeated
parallelism. The summary found in this
paragraph reverts back not to the suffering issue, but to the “conduct worthy
of the Gospel of Christ.” Paul exhorts
the Philippians to live worthy of their calling by being united in the midst of
adversity. Out of the suffering
conversation, he flows into the verses filled with encouragement and comfort
that is found in Christ. Then he comes
back to his main point—unity.

Paul
appeals to the Philippian’s common experience of the blessing of comfort in
Christ. This joyous relationship that
they had with Christ came through Paul and was shared with him. Just like they shared the same suffering, they
also shared the same enjoyments. That is
why Paul can then say “fulfill my joy.” His joy which is theirs also comes by “being
like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, [and being] of one
mind.” I think we get the point. Paul says the same thing four times in four
different ways. He wants the Philippians
to be united and so does Christ!

Conclusion and Christian
Application

God
does not expect us to have a low self-esteem, but He does expect us to think
more highly of others. We should look
out for ourselves and our families, but remember that our Christian brothers
and sisters are family too. We must
think about the church. This is the
essence of Christian unity. This is what
Christ wants for His church. This kind
of attitude and effort for unity is the type of conduct that is worthy of the
Gospel of Christ. He bought us with His
own blood, so we ought to live in a way that will reflect His graciousness and
His glory.

What
do you do with a person like Paul? He
doesn’t care if someone preaches from an impure heart or a pure heart as long
as they are preaching Christ. In life or
in death he is satisfied. If he continues
to live, he will minister to the body of Christ. If he dies, he is confident that it will be
gain! He doesn’t care what anyone does
to him or thinks of him, he is only focused on benefiting the church: for
progress and joy. What do you do with a
Christian like Paul? You cannot stop his
Gospel progress, and you cannot take away his joy. I can only hope to follow his pattern of
following Christ.

READ Scripture- This is the Word of God

Expectation and Hope of Salvation
(19-20)

If we
pick up where Jim left off last week in verse 18, we can see that today’s
passage is bookended by the theme of rejoicing.
In verse 19, we must first determine what “this” refers to. Remember some of the background to this
letter. While Paul was in Jerusalem, there
was a great uprising among the Jews against him because of his Christian
preaching, and the apostle was arrested.
Although he was going to be freed, as a Roman citizen, he decided to employ
his right to appeal to Caesar to have his case heard. So, he was imprisoned for some time. While in prison, Paul wrote some letters
(including Philippians), he was ministered to by some Christians, he was even
able to penetrate the Roman guard and some in Caesar’s house with the Gospel,
and there was, of course, personal opposition to him. Some were preaching the Gospel in a way that
would sway people away from Paul and to themselves. They did not like Paul. Yet, Paul says, in essence, that as long as
they are preaching Christ, he does not care about their personal feelings about
himself. Therefore, the “this” of verse
19 refers to his imprisonment and opposition.

The “deliverance”
of v19 is apparently ultimate salvation. Some have seen here the idea that Paul
believed that he would get out of prison and return again to ministry among the
people, but he uses eternally-charged words about this “deliverance.” The word translated here as “deliverance” is
same word that is translated everywhere else in the New Testament as
“salvation.” He talks about his “earnest
expectation and hope” along with “death and life.”

The
ultimate salvation that Paul was so confident in was not because of a reliance
on himself. Paul viewed his salvation as
being accomplished by two means of cooperation: through (1) the Philippians’
prayer and (2) the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Paul, the Philippians, and Christ were bound
together in a special way. The
Philippians (and others) were with him and supporting him through prayer, and
Christ was with him through the Spirit.

Commentators
tell us that these two words, “expectation” and “hope,” are so closely related
that they can combine to mean something like, “hope-filled expectation” (Fee,
135). Hope is not merely wishfulness for
the Christian; it is “the highest degree of certainty about the future” (Fee,
135). I think Paul means a then-and-now
type of understanding. Ultimately, Paul would not be ashamed;
so why should he be ashamed in the present? If he knows his future is sure in Christ,
what worries does he have in the present?
If all things are his in the next age, what does he have to lose in this
age? You see, Christians are to live
with an eternal perspective. We are
willing to sacrifice our lives now—our time, our energy, our resources—because
we know that we have been given eternal life.
We have no fear because we have a confident hope. Our futures are sure, not because we can rely
on ourselves, but because we rely on our God.
We will not be ashamed on Judgment Day because Christ’s righteousness is
ours. And if we will not be ashamed
then, we certainly have no fear of shame now.

The
word “boldness” (or “courage” in the NIV), actually conveys the meanings of
“openness” and “public” (Fee, 137). It
is boldness of speech in the presence of others. Through Paul’s imprisonment and defense of
the Gospel, he will boldly and publicly reveal Christ to be glorious. Paul refers to his witness as in the
“body.” He knows full-well that his
imprisonment is physical. He knows that
his future is a life or death issue. He
could face the death penalty. But Paul’s
resolution is to be a public witness to the wonders of Christ whether he goes
free or is condemned to death.

To Live and to Die (21-24)

With
that, Paul launches into a discussion of what it means to live and to die. Christians are those who have a unique view
of life and death. We are not those who
have no hope after death. We are not
those who fear death. We do not look
forward to death as if we are happy about the way things have gone in this age
and are happy to suffer to consequence of sin, which is death, but we know that
God has bought for us the gift of eternal life.
And, life in eternity will not be like it is here—there will be no sin,
sorrow, suffering, Satan, or any of the like.
We will enjoy God’s presence forevermore.

Paul
lived by faith and not by sight. He
lived under the control of the knowledge of the grace of Jesus Christ. Someone who lives by that knowledge can say,
“To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” That was his faith. That is our faith, although we may be weak in
it from time to time. Unshaken faith
says “life or death means Christ for me!”
Christ is the end-all-and-be-all. We must treasure Him above all else in this
life and in death.

The
“but” in verse 22 supports the understanding of “deliverance” to mean ultimate
salvation. Paul was not sure if he would
live or die. He was not sure if he would
be freed. Yet, he did know one thing—if
he was freed and continued on in the flesh (the body) he would continue to
labor for Christ thus producing more fruit.

If
Paul was given the choice, to continue to live and minister or die and receive
his reward, he would not know what to choose. How do you choose between the two? Both life and death were attractive to
him! Paul knew that to depart meant to
be with Christ and that is “far better.” Yet, he also knew that he could be of use to
the Philippians and countless other Christians. In the midst of a life and death situation
Paul was concerned about the church; he was concerned about the brethren and
not himself. Paul has an understanding
that death gives way to life. For a
Christian to die here is to be present with the Lord, to depart is to be with
Christ. Thankfully, God is the only One
who knows the outcome of our situations. If we were to choose, what a miserable amount
of pressure we would experience!

There
is no doubt that Paul was a highly valuable asset to the spiritual development
of the Christians in Philippi and many other places. It was needful for Paul to continue on in the
flesh so that he could minister to the churches.

Progress and Joy (25-26)

Paul
has left room for an unfavorable outcome in the preceding verses, but states in
verse 25 that it was his personal conviction that he would have a favorable
outcome. He had no prophetic utterance
from God and he had no vision from God, but he knew that he had much left to
accomplish for the sake of the Gospel.
He knew that the Philippians and others could use his service.

Paul
wanted three things for the Philippian believers, and I think it is extended to
any church including us:

1. Progress of Faith (remember
“progress of Gospel” in verse 12)

2. Joy of Faith (quality of the
experience of the Christian life)

3. Abundant Rejoicing in Jesus Christ
(joy = rejoicing)

Conclusion and Christian
Application

I use
to love watching horror movies, but now I really have no taste for them. Most of them are grimy and inappropriate
anyway. But, you know, I never was
really scared of them. There was usually
the element of surprise, but there was no real fear. I’ll tell you what kind of movies have always
brought out fear in me—the kind where things are out of a person’s control, for
example, when the government threatens a person and there’s no way of escape. I’ve often thought about what it will be like
for Christians in the future, especially for Christian ministers. To be honest, I’ve had moments of anxiety. Yet, I think about a passage like this where
Paul shares his thoughts on things outside of his control. Rather than breaking down in fear and shame,
he rises up with great boldness in his witness to the message of Christ. There is nothing you can do with Paul. He is satisfied in life or in death. In life he will serve the cause of Christ, and
in death he will witness to the cause of Christ. No matter the circumstances, he trusts Christ
for the future. That is bold. That is brave. That is confident. That is faith. That is what I want for myself and all of
you.

(1) Joy is a key theme in this passage
and the whole book. What kind of joy do
you have? Is your joy in Christ, or
would you rather take pleasure in other things?
There is only one kind of joy that is everlasting. There is only one kind of joy that will
actually satisfy you fully.

(2) It is easy to pay lip service to
things like hope in God, glorifying Christ, and Christian service, but do our
lives line up with those confessions?

(3) Are you growing in your faith and
joy? What kind of progress has been made
in your faith? Think about the last year
of your life, for example, how have you grown?
This is the apostolic purpose.
Progress is what Christ wants for your life and for our church. I have made it my mission in life to
facilitate Christian progress. A growing
church is not one that is necessarily gaining more and more people (although,
we are called to make disciples of the nations). A growing church is one that is constantly
pushing forward in the faith. I hope we
make lots of progress in the years to come.